Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xueying Feng, Quanlong Wang, Yuhuan Sun, Shuwu Zhang, Fayuan Wang
Summary: This study investigated the impacts of different types of Microplastics (MPs) on Pb-Zn contaminated soil and found that MPs, especially at a dose of 2%, decreased the richness and diversity of bacterial communities, altered microbial community composition, and significantly affected soil properties and heavy metal availability. The effects were dependent on the type and dose of MPs.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Julio Cesar Galdino de Sousa, Yuri Jacques Agra Bezerra da Silva, Vanessa Martins, Sueli Rodrigues, Marcos Paulo Rodrigues Teixeira, Paulo Henrique Dalto, Laercio Vieira de Melo Wanderley Neves, Antonio Rafael Sanchez-Rodriguez, Ronny Sobreira Barbosa
Summary: The objective of this study was to map the carbon stock and other soil attributes using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and provide support for informed decision-making regarding land management.
Article
Agronomy
Antonio Lopez-Castaneda, Joel Zavala-Cruz, David Jesus Palma-Lopez, Joaquin Alberto Rincon-Ramirez, Francisco Bautista
Summary: This study aims to create a digital map of soil fertility based on soil profile information for precise management of amendments and fertilizers. By analyzing the relationship between soil properties and geographic space, the best spatial models for soil fertility, including CEC, pH, Ca, Mg, Na, and K, were obtained, resulting in a map of soil fertility classes.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Khadijeh Taghipour, Mehdi Heydari, Yahya Kooch, Hassan Fathizad, Brandon Heung, Ruhollah Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi
Summary: Soil quality, one of the most important characteristics of soil, is crucial for sustainable soil management and evaluating soil degradation. This study aims to assess the impacts of deforestation on soil quality in Iran using a digital soil mapping approach. The results show that the soil quality in the protected forested area is significantly higher than the degraded/deforested area. Machine learning techniques, particularly the Random Forest model, outperform geostatistical approaches in mapping soil quality. This study provides a framework for assessing the impacts of deforestation on soil patterns, which can inform land use planning and forest resource management strategies.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Anna A. Paltseva, Maha Deeb, Erika Di Iorio, Luana Circelli, Zhongqi Cheng, Claudio Colombo
Summary: The successful use of visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy analysis combined with principal component regression and partial least-square regression was applied to detect different forms of lead. Linear discriminant analysis was used to classify soil into different categories of lead contamination risks. Different models were used to predict and compare total and bioaccessible lead concentrations.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Sebastiano Trevisani, Igor Bogunovic
Summary: This study provides a high-resolution mapping of soil organic matter (SOM) content in eastern Croatia and compares two datasets from the 1970s and 2010s, revealing a general depletion trend of SOM and a process of homogenization in recent years. The study emphasizes the importance of evaluating soil health and implementing preservation and restoration actions.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Laura Sereni, Bertrand Guenet, Isabelle Lamy
Summary: Soil contamination by trace elements like copper can affect soil functioning. Current environmental policies and soil surveys still rely on total copper content in soils, but studies have shown that copper content in soil solution or free copper content are better indicators of the risks of copper mobility and (bio-)availability for soil organisms. This study collected empirical equations from literature to estimate the amount of copper in soil solution and free copper in solution based on total soil copper content and soil parameters. These equations were used to create European maps of available copper and bio-available copper based on total soil copper content. The results allowed for a comparison of the maps at a European scale and identified specific areas of risks associated with these two proxies. Higher discrepancies were observed between the map of bio-available copper and the map of total copper compared to the available copper map. These findings can be used to assess environmental-related issues for land use planning.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Andrea Roman-Sanchez, Pavel Samonil
Summary: This study analyzes the effects of tree disturbances on the spatial variability of soil chemical properties to explain the spatial pedocomplexity in a forest reserve. The results show that tree disturbance density significantly affects soil chemical properties, particularly in the subsurface layer.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Gerard B. M. Heuvelink, Richard Webster
Summary: Pedologists traditionally mapped soil by drawing boundaries, but the introduction of geostatistics and ordinary kriging in the 1980s revolutionized soil mapping. Machine learning techniques have also been adopted, but they lack transparency and spatial correlation considerations. Spatial statisticians and pedometricians have important roles in incorporating uncertainty and communicating it to end users.
SPATIAL STATISTICS
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Ana Horta, Leonardo Azevedo, Joao Neves, Amilcar Soares, Liana Pozza
Summary: Combining traditional soil sampling with real-time sampling using pXRF devices can reduce costs associated with contamination assessments. This study evaluated the potential of using both pXRF and traditional soil sampling measurements to accurately map soil contamination due to heavy metals. Integrating pXRF uncertainty with geostatistical sequential simulation and local probability distributions can accurately identify contaminated areas.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Esio de Castro Paes, Gustavo Vieira Veloso, Manoel Nelson de Castro Filho, Saulo Henrique Barroso, Elpidio Inacio Fernandes-Filho, Mauricio Paulo Ferreira Fontes, Emanuelle Merce s Barros Soares
Summary: Physical and chemical remediation techniques used in contaminated areas are expensive and damaging to the soil structure. Biological alternatives, such as phytoremediation, are economical and applicable to large areas. This study evaluates the ability of plant species adapted to Brazilian semi-arid conditions to grow in soils contaminated with Pb, and concludes that P. juliflora, A. peregrina, and U. ruziziensis are more suitable for cultivation in soils containing high levels of Pb.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Jianghua Ye, Qi Zhang, Guoying Liu, Liwen Lin, Haibin Wang, Shunxian Lin, Yuchao Wang, Yuhua Wang, Qingxu Zhang, Xiaoli Jia, Haibin He
Summary: More than a third of tea plantations in Anxi county had been acidified. The decrease of pH value leads to an increase in the bio-availability coefficient of soil Pb content and the enrichment coefficient of Pb content in tea leaves. The lower soil pH value resulted in the increase of the absorption and accumulation of Pb by tea trees, thus an increase of Pb content in tea leaves.
JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Marco Criado, Antonio Martinez-Grana, Fernando Santos-Frances, Leticia Merchan
Summary: Protecting soil and increasing agricultural production requires understanding soil properties and their variability. Traditional soil mapping processes complexity can lead to inappropriate practices. Using ordinary kriging to map soil properties distribution can provide recommendations for improving agricultural ecosystem, increasing yield, and protecting soil.
Article
Agronomy
Wenhui Zhang, Liangwei Cheng, Ruitao Xu, Xiaohua He, Weihan Mo, Jianbo Xu
Summary: Soil fertility is crucial for crop growth, and studying its spatial distribution and variation is important for agricultural management. Traditional methods for assessing soil fertility are time-consuming and costly, and don't capture the spatial variation across continuous geographic space. Digital soil mapping techniques, particularly spatial interpolation models, have been widely used in recent years. However, further research is needed on these models for regions with complex terrains and variable climates. This study compares the performances of four popular spatial interpolation models for digital soil mapping and analyzes the spatial variation and driving factors of available phosphorus in a hilly area in Gaozhou, Guangdong Province, China. The study also demonstrates the correlations between environmental variables and available phosphorus in different spatial positions, and provides insights into the influence of vegetation and topography on the spatial variations of available phosphorus.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Franziska C. Landes, Margaret Calcio, Jennifer M. Sobolewski, Kelcey Wallens-Logan, Anna Ledeczi, Yael Kiro, Louise Bolge, James Ross, Steven N. Chillrud, Brian J. Mailloux, Alexander van Geen
Summary: Contaminated soil in urban residential areas, particularly in Brooklyn and Manhattan of New York City, poses a serious risk to children's health due to high concentrations of lead (Pb). The study found that the Pb concentrations in backyard soils were three times higher than the outdated EPA soil hazard standard, while the Pb content in tree pits and public parks was significantly lower. The research also revealed that the Pb in the soil was highly bioavailable, indicating its potential to be absorbed by children.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Sijing Qiu, Zihan Ding, Hongyan Liu, Jian Peng, Hanbing Zhang, Timothy A. Quine, Jianquan Dong, Qi Mao, Jeroen Meersmans, Xiaoyu Wang
Summary: This study focused on the karst landscape in southwestern China to explore the relationships between ecosystem services and associated social and ecological factors. The results showed significant differences in the relationships between different ecosystem services in high karst coverage regions and low karst coverage regions.
PROGRESS IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY-EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
G. Carne, S. Leconte, V Sirot, N. Breysse, P-M Badot, A. Bispo, I. Z. Deportes, C. Dumat, G. Riviere, A. Crepet
Summary: Cadmium is a common and highly toxic contaminant that poses serious adverse effects, with risks of food contamination in Europe and France. This study aimed to develop a mass-balance approach to assess the effects of reducing cadmium concentrations in crop fertilizers on dietary exposure and health risk, resulting in a predictive model and recommendations for cadmium limits in fertilizers applied in France in the context of promoting human health and reducing environmental cadmium contamination.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Zimo Zhang, Jian Peng, Zihan Xu, Xiaoyu Wang, Jeroen Meersmans
Summary: The process of rapid urbanization has significant impacts on the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESs). This study focused on the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration in China, revealing an intensified spatial imbalance between ESs supply and demand due to urbanization. Urbanization had varying impacts on ESs supply and demand sensitivity across different regions, providing a basis for decision-making in rapidly urbanized areas.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Ramin Heidarian Dehkordi, Henk Pelgrum, Jeroen Meersmans
Summary: This paper utilized additive wavelet transform (AWT) to fuse Landsat-8 and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images, generating sharpened images with preserved spatial details. The study used these high-resolution images to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) in a agricultural farm enriched with century-old biochar, and found significant impacts of biochar on surface albedo during the early growth stages of winter wheat.
GISCIENCE & REMOTE SENSING
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Sijing Qiu, Jian Peng, Huining Zheng, Zihan Xu, Jeroen Meersmans
Summary: Exploring cost-effective pathways for ecosystem restoration is crucial for a sustainable future. The South China karst region has experienced severe environmental degradation but has shown remarkable vegetation recovery following large-scale ecological restoration programs. Research suggests that these programs have increased biomass and carbon sequestration while also correlating with poverty alleviation, but uncertainties remain in understanding their overall impacts.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David Lefebvre, Adrian G. Williams, Guy J. D. Kirk, Paul J. Burgess, Jeroen Meersmans, Miles R. Silman, Francisco Roman-Danobeytia, Jhon Farfan, Pete Smith
Summary: The carbon accounting in reforestation projects often overlooks the time needed for trees to reach their carbon capture potential, the greenhouse gas emissions involved in setting up a plot, limitations at the forest ecosystem level, and tree losses due to human and climatic disturbances. Applications of biochar during reforestation can partially compensate for project emissions.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Soil Science
Songchao Chen, Dominique Arrouays, Vera Leatitia Mulder, Laura Poggio, Budiman Minasny, Pierre Roudier, Zamir Libohova, Philippe Lagacherie, Zhou Shi, Jacqueline Hannam, Jeroen Meersmans, Anne C. Richer-de-Forges, Christian Walter
Summary: Digital soil mapping (DSM) is increasingly used to deliver soil information efficiently. Research shows that while the number of DSM publications continues to grow exponentially, the majority focus on applications rather than methodology, with a particular emphasis on the mandatory soil properties for global soil mapping.
Article
Environmental Sciences
C. Wiltshire, M. Glendell, T. W. Waine, R. C. Grabowski, J. Meersmans
Summary: This study combines sediment fingerprinting with a carbon loss model to investigate the sources and delivery processes of soil organic carbon. The results show that woodland is the dominant source of OC in streambed sediment, while arable land is likely the dominant source of OC. The study also emphasizes the potential contribution of riparian woodland buffer strips to OC in stream sediments. Characterizing direct woodland OC as a separate source in future fingerprinting studies would improve estimates of eroded woodland soil OC contributions.
JOURNAL OF SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michael T. Loebmann, Linda Maring, Gundula Prokop, Jos Brils, Johannes Bender, Antonio Bispo, Katharina Helming
Summary: Soils and land play a crucial role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals and addressing societal challenges. However, they are facing degradation and reduction of functions. A research framework has been proposed to support sustainable soil and land management, addressing six societal challenges and integrating eight knowledge types.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Xiaoyu Wang, Jian Peng, Yuhang Luo, Sijing Qiu, Jianquan Dong, Zimo Zhang, Kim Vercruysse, Robert C. Grabowski, Jeroen Meersmans
Summary: This study explores how social-ecological factors influence the interactions of ecosystem services (ESs). Using the Sutlej-Beas River Basin as a case study, the study identifies two dominant types of ESs interactions and correlates them with various social-ecological factors. It also identifies four main ES bundles that describe their spatial relationships with social-ecological factors. The study provides insights for an integrated watershed-based management of ESs.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuqiao Long, Wenbin Wu, Joost Wellens, Gilles Colinet, Jeroen Meersmans
Summary: The increasing crop production in China has successfully met the growing food demand in the country over the last decades. Intensive farming and large-scale farming have played positive roles in contributing to the crop production increase. However, the influencing factors vary across different regions, requiring measures such as land consolidation and financial assistance to further improve crop production.
Article
Microbiology
Christophe Djemiel, Samuel Dequiedt, Arthur Bailly, Julie Tripied, Melanie Lelievre, Walid Horrigue, Claudy Jolivet, Antonio Bispo, Nicolas Saby, Matthieu Vale, Pierre-Alain Maron, Lionel Ranjard, Sebastien Terrat
Summary: Soils are essential reservoirs of biological diversity, hosting a wide range of microorganisms. This study investigated the fungal:bacterial (F:B) ratio in French soils and found that it is heterogeneously distributed and affected by soil characteristics and land management. The pH, organic carbon content, and carbon:nitrogen ratio were identified as the main drivers of F:B ratios. These findings enhance our understanding of soil microbial communities and suggest that F:B ratio could be used as a bioindicator of soil status.
Article
Soil Science
Alexandre M. J. -C. Wadoux, Nicolas P. A. Saby, Manuel P. Martin
Summary: Understanding the controlling factors of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock variation is important for both scientific understanding of terrestrial carbon balance and supporting policies on carbon storage in soils for mitigating climate change. This study developed a statistical method using machine learning models and environmental covariates to analyze SOC stock variation. The results showed that vegetation and topography were the main drivers of SOC stock variation in mainland France, but the importance of covariates varied across locations and carbon-landscape zones. The use of Shapley values provided valuable insights into the factors influencing SOC stock variation and the mechanisms driving soil carbon sequestration potential.
Article
Soil Science
Claire Froger, Nicolas P. A. Saby, Claudy C. Jolivet, Line Boulonne, Giovanni Caria, Xavier Freulon, Chantal de Fouquet, Helene Roussel, Franck Marot, Antonio Bispo
Summary: The study focused on PAHs concentrations in 2154 soils in France, revealing higher levels near industrial areas and major cities. PAH molecular diagnostic ratios supported the historical origin of PAHs in the northern part of France related to significant emissions during the industrial period of 1850-1950 in Europe. Furthermore, a health risk assessment for the residential population showed a low total lifetime cancer risk.
